Superpower Macaroons (Paleo + Vegan)

by Leanne Vogel on March 18th, 2014

Power packed macaroons made to satisfy your sweet cravings without sacrificing your health. These little babies deliver a strong dose of nourishing fats, proteins and antioxidants in each bite. Made with minimal sweetener. Also grain-, dairy-, nut-, and egg-free.

The camaraderie that comes with working at an office with a team of awesome peeps is missing when you work from home day in and day out. I absolutely love what I do – creating healthy recipes, writing cookbooks, and connecting with many of you on a daily basis. But something? Was missing.

As a way to get out there and be part of a community again, I have been spending 4 hours a week cleaning and organizing my favorite yoga studio, Moksha Yoga Calgary North, in exchange for free yoga.

It’s a lot deeper than free yoga for me. Spending time at the studio, with like-minded people, in a loving and supportive space is food for my soul.

And, had it not been for Alana; one of the fabulous teachers at the studio, sharing some store bought goji macaroons with me, I wouldn’t be sharing this recipe with you today.

Before I could even ask Alana what was in the macaroon, she stuffed it in my mouth saying, “You HAVE to try this?!”

She was right. These babies are solid gold.

The only thing I didn’t like about the store bought version is that they had almonds. Not that I have anything against almonds, but I know a lot of you have nut allergies, so I went through a couple iterations of this recipe making it nut-free, too.

Cacao nibs for muscle and mood health, goji berries for intense antioxidant action and coconut for a happy, healthy metabolism.

Power packed macaroons made to satisfy your sweet cravings without sacrificing your health. These little babies deliver a strong dose of nourishing fats, proteins and antioxidants in each bite-sized treat. Made with minimal sweetener, grain-, dairy-, nut-, and egg-free.

Preheat oven to 250F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat.

Add coconut flour, coconut oil, agave, extract and salt to the bowl of your stand mixer. Or, if you do not have one, in a large bowl and mix with a hand mixer. Mix until completely incorporated.

Then add shredded coconut, goji berries and cacao nibs. Rotate just until mixed.

Scoop 1 tablespoon at a time, pressing down firmly while the dough is in the inside of the tablespoon before flipping over into prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough.

Bake in preheated oven for 14-16 minutes, or until sides begin to slightly brown. Watch them carefully!

Notes:

Coconut Flour: you could try to replace the coconut flour in this recipe with ¾ cup of another flour, although I’m not sure how well it will work. The coconut flour works well in this recipe because it dries things out and holds everything together nicely.

Sweetener: anything could be used here, I supposed. Although I would stick with the sticky sweeteners – honey, brown rice syrup, yacon, etc.

Goji Berries: if they are not accessible to you, feel free to replace with another dried berry of your choice.

Cacao Nibs: cacao nibs do not melt when baked (like chocolate chips) so they didn’t impact the consistency of the macaroons when in the oven. I am not sure how this recipe would work if chocolate chips were used.